Report - Peter Foulsom

Chelsea Yacht Club was the host club for the 2010 Victorian Mosquito and Arrow Catamaran Class State titles and an enthusiastic team of club volunteers helped make the event appear effortless. A big thankyou goes to all the volunteers from Chelsea Yacht Club for their untiring efforts and long hours spent setting and re-setting courses, tabulating results, preparing, cooking and serving food and drinks.

The forecast during the week prior to the titles didn’t look promising with rain and strong winds associated with a developing low pressure system. By mid-week there was some glimmer of hope with light winds predicted for Saturday and a potential storm , increasing winds for Sunday and strong winds forecast for Monday. So if we could get 2 races in on Saturday and one more on Sunday then we would have a series result .

Arriving at Chelsea Y.C. on Saturday morning we were welcomed to a light Westerly wind with a shore break courtesy of a stronger westerly the previous evening. There was plenty of space on the beach for yachts and trailers and no risk of being swamped by tides or waves. As the Commodore stated in his briefing we would only have some concerns if there was a 60 to 70 knot storm from the West. Many hands made light work of moving trailers and yachts through the soft sand very easy and even enjoyable.

After we struggled out against the surf and the light breeze, race 1 got underway in 10 knots and lumpy seas close to the 1:00 pm scheduled start. During the pre-start line-up one red Mk1 was seen to mount a white Mk1 just a little too enthusiastically. During the race many sets of rudders and lock down systems were put to the test by the local jellyfish and this set the theme for the rest of the series. Some sailors chose to race with 1 rudder after damaging events rather than loose a race. Many were seen to head off early to make repairs either between races or overnight. Shannon and Tim broke away in the Mk1s and Neil, Stuart and Gordon had a very close battle in the Mk2s. Race 1 was shortened to 3 laps and the impending dark clouds were a pre-cursor to the next race. Perhaps the race committee had prior warning of the storm that was lashing Melbourne with flooding rain and hail stones up to 45 mm diameter.

Race 2 was started in 15 knots and by lap 2 was over 20 knots. By the start of lap 3 winds were over 25 knots and the race was dutifully shortened. The race and aftermath saw Jeremy Pearse break his boom and loose his start watch, Peter Lyons tore his mainsail and Simon Clavin bent both his rudder boxes. Nick Mann was seen to be capsized down the beach and receiving assistance from one of the rescue boats. As we approached the beach the sky opened and we didn’t need to wash down our boats or wet weather gear. Gutters and storm water drains were put to the test and rivers were soon appearing on the beach.

Sunday morning saw an offshore Easterly wind with near perfect 10 to 15 knots in the morning and 15 to 20 knots in the afternoon.

With the stronger afternoon winds some sailors were seen sitting on their bows and drifting backwards all the way out to the start line. Stuart Ridge had an unexpected mast failure in the morning and took no further part in the series. Gordon Hyde had a bridle chainplate mounting issue in the afternoon and wisely chose to cause no further damage. Mick pulled a "fast-one" down the left hand side of the run to snatch race 5 from Neil. Peter Nikitin jumped through his sail and had to pull out the spare for race 6.

For race 6 the wind went further South and became more shifty. Garry Johnstone and Mitchell Meade were first to the windward mark but Shannon soon broke through to first and stayed there.

After another night of constant rain on Sunday, Monday morning presented us with a 15 to 20 knot Northerly wind and a 10:00 am start. In the sloops Neil & David Joiner had the series won and Mick and Tom Floyd were safe in 2nd. In the Mk1 fleet Gary Maskiell was sitting one point behind Shannon Wilson and with an almost identical set of results the tie-break would fall in Gary's favour if he could win this race, even if Shannon finished 2nd. So everything was to race for.

With an increasing wind and forecast of up to 30 knots the race got under way with the first 4 places changing on every leg. Shannon, Gary, James Pearse and Tim Shepperd were all in contention but by the end of the first downwind leg Gary was in 1st and Shannon 2nd. 2/3 of the way up the next windward leg Gary was looking good but thought he needed a bit more outhaul tension, at which point the outhaul rope snapped! After tying the clew of the sail back out to the end of the boom Gary continued but now had to claw his way back from 7th. James continued to challenge Shannon to the end but Shannon held on to first place to take the National Title while Gary made his way back up to 3rd, just catching Tim at the finish line.

Matt Kirby tried to pinch to the finish line rather than tack and finished up in the water with his Mosquito on top of him. Sadly Matt had not crossed the finish line.

Congratulations to Shannon Wilson and Neil & David Joiner for winning the Mk I and Mk II championships respectively. Well done to Gary Maskiel 2nd and Matt Stone 3rd in the MkI fleet and Mick & Tom Floyd 2nd and Phillip & Cameron Warren-Smith 3rd in the Mk II fleet.